Seasonal Cleansing for Self Care
What is your personal health care system? Do you practice personalized preventative self care? Most medical establishments function to serve us when we are sick, but maintaining health and preventing disease often fall outside of this system. Ideally your personal health care system would nourish all the tissues of your body, support healthy brain function and allow for processing of emotions, and allow for one to live a fulfilling, happy life.
Food, breath, movement and experiences, everything you take in, then becomes your medicine..or your downfall. (sitting is the new smoking, they say). Now that we are coming into spring, things are getting stirred up and moving in our environment, and within our bodies. Notice your appetite changing? Feeling a little congested? That is the body's built in system of rejuvenation kicking in. We can chose to keep on going the way we have been, or tap into these forces to shift our wellness into a higher gear. Time for some spring cleaning? Why not do some internal cleansing as well? I am not talking about going to extremes, and creating a situation where you are removing everything that brings you joy. Create your own seasonal ritual of clearing out what is standing in your way to living in integrity with what you know to be true. Here are so principals you can incorporate to create your own spring cleanse:
A very basic move in the right direction: Try all of these ideas for a week or two.
Make your meals lighter, plant based, and eliminate between meal snacking. This alone will give your digestive tract a break and a chance to optimize!
Try reducing or eliminating stimulants and "excitotoxins" like caffiene and sugar. Reduce or eliminate your intake of alcohol and pot. Remember, this is only temporary. You don't have to give these things up forever, but you may find that after a week without them, you don't need them as much. Move incrementally, decrease and add back in over time. Maybe have a half cup of coffee for a week, and then try to give it up for a week. You will get the effect from a smaller quantity if you decide to come back.
Ease up on your senses. Limit screen time, and get out into nature as much as possible. Express yourself, and move your creativity out into the world, rather than taking in the ideas of everyone else. Write in a journal, or write some old fashioned letters.
Spend a small part of each day in a "time out."
Get in as much movement as possible.
Game for a little more? Experiment with incorporating more raw foods into your diet, or try out a liquid diet of soups and smoothies a few days per week.
Get some collaborators or "cleanse buddies" to check in with and keep you accountable. There are several online options for this as well.
Try to stay with your changes for a least three days. Initially you may feel some withdrawal effects, but you should feel lighter after they clear up. Do not discontinue or decrease prescription medications with out consulting a doctor.
You may eventually fall back into your old ways, but it is so important to step away from our habits, even in a small way, so that we can really get to know what we are capable of. You may loose weight, or feel more clarity, or you may realize that certain habits easily slip out of or into. Seasonal cleansing in spring and fall is part of the life care system of Ayurveda, and fasting is a also part of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and indigenous rituals around the world. Complete fasting can be too much of a shock for those of us acclimated to a western modern lifestyle, but our ancestors were capable, and it is a
